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Ring Around the Redhead
Synopsis Death Row inmate Billy Malone tells the story of how he survived an earthquake and found a portal to another dimension. Cast *''John Heard'' as Billy Malone *''Penelope Miller'' as Keena *''Caris Corfman'' as Adele *''Greg Thornton'' as Jimbo *''John Snyder'' as Guard *''Paul Sparer'' as Narrator Plot Act I A prison guard walks to Billy inside his cell and informs him that the only has six hours left. A woman in red, in the cell with Billy, tells him to not let the guard upset him. Billy insists that he didn't. She wants Billy to tell her his story, but Billy does not think she will want to hear it. A convincing story should not get him the electric chair. The lady insists that since Billy only has six hours left that he should tell his story. Billy asks her to promise not to laugh and she insists that she only came to listen. Billy begins to muse about Keena, observing that she would believe him as she knows he is not a killer. The lady in red says that Keena is only a fantasy, but Billy's only fantasies are in his head as he invents things. He dreams up inventions and brings them into reality. He says that this was what he was doing the first time he saw the ring. Act II Billy was in his basement workshop, hiding under a table, as an earthquake hit. Once it was calm again, he looked around and came out from under the table. He saw something that looked like a small volcano and when he looked inside it, he saw a metal ring. He believed the earthquake made the ring appear. Whenever Billy touched the ring, it moved and a different environment appeared beneath the ring. Upon lowering things into the volcano, some things get frozen and other things get burned. Billy tells the lady that after examining the ring for two days, he realized that he needed help with it. Billy called his friend Jimbo to help him out, and realizes that doing so was his mistake. He tried to show Jimbo an artifact that he retrieved on the 170th probe, but Jimbo was more interested in the large uncut ruby he was examining. Jimbo wanted Billy to dig into the earth and turn the ring into a business, which would be more profitable than being an inventor. Billy dismissed Jimbo and told him that messing with the ring was dangerous, as one of his grappling hooks was destroyed. Jimbo got up to leave and attempted to take the uncut ruby with him. Billy stopped him and made him hand over the ruby. Jimbo gave up the ruby and told Billy that he will be around before he leaves. After Jimbo left, Billy went back to the volcano and began pulling on the line. Suddenly panicked woman speaking a foreign language came out of the volcano. Act III Although they could not communicate properly, the redheaded girl wanted to be put back through the ring so she could return to whence she came. Billy told her that he cannot return her because the ring had moved and he could not guarantee she would return to the area she was from. She ran around the basement, panicking while Billy tried to calm her. Eventually, he was able calm her down and convinced her to stay in the basement with him so she will be safe. A thunderstorm is raging outside the prison as Billy continues to tell his tale. He tried to get the redhead from the ring to understand as much as he can tell her. He showed her a globe, telling her that they are on Earth. He told her his name is Billy, and she learned both words very quickly. He then showed her how to spell his name, teaching her how to pronounce the letters. The redhead took the pen away from Billy and drew a squiggly line on the paper. She took his hand, and while running his hand over the line, explained that her name was Keena. He kept teaching her how to read and speak English as she picked it all up extraordinarily quickly. Keena and Billy had an almost instant rapport. Back in the cell, Billy tells the reporter that Keena was the best thing that ever happened to him. She immediately assumes that this is because Keena is pretty, but Billy insists that this is not the only reason he liked her. The reporter then accuses him of keeping Keena locked up in his house so he could have her all to himself. Billy insists that he was only trying to protect her. Continuing to tell his story, Billy tells of a time where Keena insisted he sing "Rock-a-Bye-Baby" to her to help her fall asleep. When she awoke the next morning, he has bought Keena a sundress and underwear as a present. She liked her new clothes and thanked him. Billy describes Keena as being very intelligent. The reporter first assumes that this is because Keena liked Billy, but Billy informs her because in the short time they were together, Keena quickly picked up knowledge from science journals that took him years to understand. He also discovered that the reason she has not eaten is because she eats cold and frozen food rather than cooked. She also believed that Earth's science is primitive because her people can transfer matter and change time. While Billy was showing Keena the electric light globe, Jimbo forced his way into the basement. Billy was alarmed and tried to keep Jimbo away. Jimbo told Keena he was an old friend of Billy's and since Billy was the smart friend, Billy should have known what Jimbo wanted. Jimbo wanted to take the ring and threatened Billy that the police would put him in a psychiatric hospital if they knew the whole story behind the ring. Jimbo then went to the volcano and lifted the ring out of it. Once Jimbo had the ring out of the volcano, he looked through it and chastized Billy. He told Billy that he was willing to share the ring with him and that he just wanted to borrow it. Act IV Back in the cell, the reporter asks Billy what happened after Jimbo took the ring. Billy tells her that, according to Keena, the ring was pointless. Her people had the ability to look into other worlds without using the ring. Her people would find her and take her back to her world. Billy, however, still wanted to find the ring. The reporter accuses Billy of trying to be Keena's protector, but Billy insists that the only thing he wanted was to show her that humans were not primitive. Billy went over to Jimbo's to try and get the ring back. He returned to Keena and showed her an uncut ruby, saying he found tons of them over at Jimbo's. Keena told Billy that uncut rubies are toys for children in her world. Billy then told her that although he thought Jimbo had taken the ring to bring up as many rubies as he could, Jimbo was actually trying to bury an arm that he had pulled through the ring. Keena was alarmed and tells Billy that her people must not find out what happened. Suddenly, Jimbo came through the basement door and demanded that Billy take the ring back because he has had enough of it. Jimbo had seen something through the ring that made him decide he did not want the ring anymore. He told Billy that he tried to destroy it, but it wouldn't be destroyed and he wanted Billy to get rid of it. In a huff, Jimbo tried to leave Billy's home. Billy followed him out and tried to tell him about Keena's people and what Billy must have been doing to them. He then says that Jimbo tried talking to him, but that no words were coming out. Then a cloud went over Jimbo's body and created a loud crushing sound and when it left, Jimbo was gone. After Jimbo disappeared, Billy returned to his basement and the volcano had been destroyed. Keena was also missing, and Billy assumed that her people came and took her back to their world. Sitting in the dark with the reporter, Billy figures that the prison is testing the electric chair out. The reporter tells him that he must hurry and tell her the rest of his story. Billy tells the reporter that his trial was a joke. The police found rubies and bits of Jimbo's skull all over the lawn. He remarks that without Keena, he did not have a chance of anyone believing his story. Act V As the guards come to take Billy to the chair, the reporter asks what he would say to Keena if he had the chance. Billy responds that he would thank her for everything she showed him. There is a flashback of Keena and Billy talking. Keena tells Billy that there is no fighting in her home. The only thing her people care about is raising the power of their minds. They imagine things and make them happen. Keena makes a small box appear and in the box is a picture of Billy. Billy is being led to the electric chair. The guards strap him into it. Billy sits in darkness as the guard is signaled to pull the switch. Before he can, smoke appears. Keena runs up to it and sees Billy sitting in the chair. She tells Billy that the guards cannot see her for a minute. She tells Billy she couldn't let the prison hurt him and offers to take him back to her world. Billy asks Keena what he will do in her world and she tells him they will think. As the lights come back on, Billy and Keena disappear. Immediately, the reporter is on the phone with her editor. She tells him that Billy was telling the truth and the execution never happened. She tells the editor that she has a better story: a love story. Category:Episodes Category:Season 2 Category:Written by Ted Gershuny Category:1985